The present invention relates to a method and system of encoding multiple languages in a video file for a gaming machine. The invention has been developed primarily for use as an electronic gaming machine and will be described hereinafter by reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention may also be implemented for any type of gaming machine that uses software to implement the game played on the gaming machine, including an electro-mechanical gaming machine.
The following discussion of the prior art is intended to present the invention in an appropriate technical context and allow its advantages to be properly appreciated. Unless clearly indicated to the contrary, however, reference to any prior art in this specification should not be construed as an express or implied admission that such art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Conventional gaming machines typically involve displaying a game and awarding prizes to a player according to predetermined combinations of game symbols that appear on an array of game squares displayed on a screen, typically organised into three rows and five columns (a 5×3 array). Other arrays, such as a 3×3 or 4×3, may be used. Each gaming machine randomly selects the game symbols that appear on the array, each column of the array being a “reel”.
One type of gaming machine comprises a mechanical or electro-mechanical device, where a motor rotates a plurality of annular rings or drums that form reels. Each reel has a reel strip that displays game symbols in preset game symbol positions. A frame covers the rings to provide a window through which only a subset of game symbol positions (and hence game symbols) were visible to the player. Thus, for a game using a 5×3 array, the window would only permit three rows of five rings to be visible to create the game array. An internal game controller within the gaming machine controls operation of the motor and hence rotation of the reels. Thus, by controlling when each reel starts and stops in its respective rotation, the game controller controls the display of the game symbols in the window. Sensors linked to the reels indicate which game symbols are displayed in the window and communicate with the game controller so that the game controller is able to award prizes based on winning combinations of game symbols displayed on the reels in the window. The game controller typically comprises one or more electric circuits for controlling various functions of the gaming machine, such as the above mentioned control of the motor, communicating with the sensors, verifying that the correct amount of a bet has been made via one or more value receiving mechanisms to enable operation of the motors, controlling any visual and/or audio effects associated with operation of the gaming machine and controlling operation of various alarms to alert any tampering with the gaming machine.
Another type of gaming machine, known as an electronic gaming machine or EGM, replaces the mechanical reels and motor with a video display screen on which video images of the reels are displayed. The EGM has an internal electronic game controller, typically a computer, that controls the display of images on the video display screen so that the reels are visibly spun on the screen to simulate a physical reel of a traditional gaming machine. EGMs tend to be more versatile in providing game information, varying the probabilities for a player to win a prize and varying the type of game that is played.
When games are implemented for play on a gaming machine, a game file is typically uploaded onto the memory storage of the internal game controller of the gaming machine. In the case of an electro-mechanical gaming machine, the internal game controller then operates the electrical circuits that in turn drive the motors to rotate the mechanical reels and operate the sensors. In the case of an EGM, the software loaded onto the memory storage, the electronic game controller controls the images displayed to perform the game on the EGM.
The game file will include video files for displaying video images during play of the game on the EGM, either on the display of the EGM or a display on a “topper” mounted to the top of an electro-mechanical gaming machine. Where the game is intended to be played in more than one jurisdiction or country, the video file may include multi-language support for each jurisdiction in which the game is installed into the EGM. This permits the EGM to display the same video content with differences in specific or different languages, where required. That is, the written text embedded into the video image is usually market or language specific. For example, an EGM may be supplied to a venue operator who may have venues spread across North and South America. Hence, the game files will require language support in English, Spanish and Portuguese. To meet this requirement, conventionally, separate video files are prepared for each language and the appropriate video file is selected for the correct language at installation in the gaming venue. This arrangement necessarily increases the number and size of the video files in of the game file. Consequently, this increases the usage of memory on the game file carrier medium and the EGM, and increases the demand on memory storage requirements of both the carrier medium and the EGM. This can lead to minimization of the use of text in the video images or presentations to reduce need to provide multi-language support in the game file. This approach is also inefficient, as this method can often lead to duplication of video images that do not display any text, since a complete video file containing all the video images for the game in each language must be provided.
Furthermore, older gaming machines have processors or game controllers with lower processing power and/or memory. Hence, these older gaming machines are unable to handle large file sizes that may occur for game files with multiple language options, and so are unable to be updated with new games. Thus, there is a limit on the file size for a game file in order for the game to be installed on an older gaming machine.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.